Sunday, April 16, 2006

Xinjiang News

(click to enlarge. Courtesy of MSN Maps)

China Southern Airlines to resume flights to Moscow

"URUMQI, March 31 (Xinhua) -- China Southern Airlines will resume its flights to Moscow as of April 10 in an effort to boost Asian-European air traffic service. The airlines' branch in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in Northwest China announced Friday that Boeing 737 passenger planes will fly from Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, to Moscow every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The return flights will be on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays."

LANZHOU, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The Wushaoling tunnel railway, the longest of its kind in Asia, opened to traffic on Thursday in China's northwestern Gansu Province.

The 21.05-kilometer-long tunnel railway, which is more than 2,400 meters above sea level, is a key project for the Asia-EuropeL and Bridge's 3,651-km-long section from Lianyungang in East Chinato Urumqi in Northwest China.

URUMQI, March 23 (Xinhua) -- China and Pakistan will open four new passenger and cargo road links in the first half of the year.

Two of the four roads are for cargo transportation and the other two are for passengers and they will be opened on May 1 and June 1 respectively, according to an agreement signed Wednesday between the transport ministries of the two countries in Urumqi, capital of northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

China has agreed to look at sharing intelligence with India on terrorism in Kashmir and insurgency in the northeast, highly placed government sources said.

According to sources, China has an impressive data base on extremist activity, especially on India's northeast provinces. It is keen on acquiring information on the cross- border unrest by ethnic Uighurs in its western Xinjiang province.

China is seeking more information on Uighur extremists to ensure that its Xinjiang province that is vital for promoting its long-term developmental plans remains stable.

Keen on tapping the Central Asian and domestic oil and gas reserves in the region, China sees Xinjiang as the vital transport corridor to transfer oil and gas to its economic hub of Shanghai through a network of pipelines. The main pipeline from west to east, according to the energy plan revealed in last year's National People's Congress, will run a distance of 4,200 km.

Opening borders and expanding economic cooperation with neighbouring nations is the Chinese way of globalising Xinjiang and Tibet. Trade with neighbours and prosperity through globalisation, Beijing hopes, will douse the separatist sentiment in these two provinces.

URUMQI, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The highway being constructed to span the Taklimakan Desert, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, will be completed and put into use half a year ahead of schedule.